Lancer 34

Hi there.

It's been a while since I posted. Real life caught up with me, I liked to read and comment, but I couldn't write anymore. Now it's better and my muse is back. I hope you are all well, and I wish you a happy holiday season.

Bad Decisions

That morning, Scott was surprised when Alice asked to speak to him alone.

They went out to chat and walk for a while until they had a magnificent view of the surrounding plains and the mountains topped by a steep cliff.

"I think I'm in love with you Scott, you're so fair with the kids, so stern, yet so sweet and kind."

"Alice, I'm really flattered that you have these feelings for me, you're a beautiful woman, but I'm a married man, I love my wife and I will remain faithful to her. I'm your friend, that's all."

Alice started crying.

"I don't think what you're feeling is love, I think you're clinging to me because I'm here and I'm a lifeline to you and your kids. You'll find a man to love, I" I'm sure, but it won't be me."

Alice approached the cliff.

"What are you doin ? Come here! You are going to fall!" Scott ordered sternly.

"If I join my husband, I won't have to worry anymore. I can't live without him."

"You can, you will see. You have two darling children, they need you, it seems insurmountable to you right now, but you will get there, do you understand?"

"Thomas handles Max perfectly. They don't need me now."

"Don't say that, he's taking the role until you're ready to start a new life. He will have to live his own life one day, you will meet a good man who will take care of Max and you. Let's go home, I have to help Tom."

"Okay, you're right Scott, excuse me".

"No excuses are needed, you are going through a difficult time, I am your friend, don't forget that."

They went home and Scott decided not to tell Tom. But he had to leave soon so she wouldn't get attached.

Ten days later, on the way to school, Max spoke.

"How about we go fishing instead of going to school?"

"I don't know, it's a guaranteed spanking."

"Well, for me too, but it's worth it, a day of freedom! Besides, you already know everything, you're bored in class, you said it."

"Yes, but Scott wants to know where I am, that's what pisses him off the most, not knowing if something's happening to me. He's going to go crazy!"

"We're just going fishing, we're not going to the Himalayan peaks!"

"I don't think my butt will be saved, even on top of the Himalayas!"

"I'm going. Come or go, but don't say anything."

A day of having fun instead of being bored in class was too tempting.

"Okay, I'm coming, but if Scott finds out, his belt comes off!"

"He won't know, nor Tom, we'll be home on time, like we come home from school."

The children had spent the day fishing and having fun.

Back home, Max immediately did his chores, helped by Johnny. When they came out of the barn, Scott and Tom were waiting for them with balloons in their hands.

"Do you want to play?" Tom asked.

The twinkling look in the boys' eyes gave them the answer.

"Everything okay Johnny?" asked Scott. Something was bothering his brother.

"Yes, of course, everything is fine!" replied the child.

"Okay," Scott nodded. He was waiting for a note from school to answer or something. He would know soon enough anyway, he knew this child, Johnny wouldn't go long without confessing.

"Well Johnny, you're with your brother, Max is with me. The rules are; don't go out of bounds, no kicks, it's a game. It takes about ten passes before you can score a goal. Questions?

"Nope".

For over two hours the two teams battled it out, there was an obvious bond between Scott and Johnny. Scott seemed to know in advance his brother's reactions to where he was placed every second. They won with ten points. in advance. Then Max finished the game.

"Okay, that's enough for today. Clean up the garden and go wash up and change for dinner." Tom ordered. His tone of voice left no room for discussion. He and Scott went in to change as well. Alice hadn't started the meal, she didn't do it anymore these days. Scott began to do so, always making sure to leave some distance between them and avoid being alone with her.

While the boys were washing outside, a cart drove into the yard. It was the teacher.

"Shit!" Said Johnny, "We're dead!"

"No, trust me," Max said before greeting the woman. "Hello Ma'am, sorry to be absent today, we had a lot of work on the farm, since my father died, we had to help, we just finished the job."

"Are your brothers here?"

"No Ma'am, they're going to work late."

"I understand. Give them these notes, they must sign them by tomorrow. Any absence must be excused."

"Yes Ma'am!" said, Max.

"What are we going to do?" asked Johnny. "How about we get your mom to sign?"

"No, she would tell Tom, and she's weird right now."

"Do you know Scott's signature? Me, I have no problem with doing Tom's."

"Forge his signature? Do you want me dead?" Johnny asked. "No, I better confess and get spanked before I make it worse. I'm going to talk to Scott."

"No, if you tell him, you condemn me too. We will sign them ourselves. Tomorrow we go back to school, no one will know."

"I don't know Max, I have a feeling we're going to be in trouble," said Johnny. "My dad and Scott say being a man is acknowledging your mistakes and their consequences."

"Yes? Well, lucky for us, you're not a man yet, and neither am I! We're kids, so we're trying to manage! Come on, sign here."

"Do you have something to tell me?" Scott asked after the meal.

"No Sir, there is nothing."

"Look at me. Do you know I'm giving you a chance here? If you screwed up and I find out, it's a lie on top of everything else."

Scott knew Johnny by heart, something was bothering the boy and the guilt was gnawing at him.

"I said there is nothing. I'm tired. Can I go to bed?"

"Yes, go to your room and think about confessing what you did" Something was going on, Scott was sure of it.

Once in his room, Johnny burst into tears. Doing something stupid was one thing, but lying to Scott and forging his signature? Scott was going to kill him!"

"Max? Do you have something to tell me? Do you know what bothers Johnny?" Tom tried.

"No idea. I don't know what he could have done."

"Okay, Go to your room to get ready for bed."

Passing Johnny's room, Max stopped. Johnny was crying. Max entered.

"Stop crying! You're going to betray us, millions of children skip school, we didn't kill anyone, it doesn't matter!"

"I looked Scott in the eye and lied to him, he didn't know where I was today, I forged his signature, and worst of all, I broke his trust. I'm dead!"

"You are exaggerating, I have never heard of a child being murdered for nonsense." Neither one of the boys had seen Scott leaning against the door frame then.

"He's right though." Scott intervened. "Max, go to your room, you better confess to your brother because Johnny is going to tell me what's going on," Scott said with conviction.

Scott waited for Max to close the door to sit on the bed, placing John in front of him between his knees.

"You cried about this because the guilt is eating at you. Tell me what you did." Scott said softly.

Then Scott did something he had never done before a spanking, he hugged his little brother as hard as he could to comfort him.

Johnny burst into tears against his shirt. Scott hugged him tighter until his sobs turned to gasps and the child calmed down.

"Now sit down, I want you to respect me by looking me in the eye, telling me what you've done, and taking responsibility for it. That's how Daddy and I are raising you."

And Johnny snapped. Respect for his brother? There was tons of it!

Then Johnny confessed everything. Skipping school, fishing, the teacher visiting, forging his signature, and lying to him at the table while looking him straight in the eye.

"I broke your trust Scott, I'm sorry. Do you still love me?"

Scott had listened to him, without interrupting him, even if his anger grew as the story of his misbehavior progressed.

"My love for you is not at stake here, or ever. You have to know that. I'm going to punish you and spank you hard, but I'll never stop loving you. Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir"

"As for my lost trust, that is part of your punishment, but you will regain it as quickly as you lost it. Do you understand this?"

"Yes sir"

"Well, I don't want to punish you here. I'd rather the two of us were alone, I'm going to be very strict. Get dressed, we're going to the tree stump from our last discussion. Walking will calm me down. You have ten minutes. I'll go talk to Max and Tom."

"Yes sir. Will your belt come off?"

"You already know the answer to that question. Yes, and applied on your bare butt. You know me. Did you expect anything else?"

"No sir, to be honest, I knew the second I missed school."

"Good. We'll talk about your choices later."

Scott walks into Max's room without knocking.

"Max? You didn't tell your brother? Too bad for you, because I'm going to tell him, you missed your chance to confess."

"Wait! I'll tell him."

"No, too late. Stay here until he decides your punishment."

Scott found Tom in the barn. He repeated to the man what Johnny had confessed.

"Johnny is remorseful, he knew from the start that what he was doing was wrong and that I would be angry. It was the disappointment from me that gnawed at him, I know, more than the fear of my belt. The worst is that Max doesn't see the difference between good and evil, you have to teach him."

"Yeah, but ever since my dad died, he's been on a rampage."

"Your brother has no limits. You have to give him some or he'll end up in jail."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

"I hope so. You have to give him a tough spanking, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. You have to be really hard on Max, that's a good thing, you'll be even harder than me one day, I think so. But I wanted to warn you. No matter what they did, they are children, they must be punished as such. Don't be too fierce with the spanking to leave marks."

"Do you think I could hurt him?"

"No, I'm just warning you. Like my dad did when I started playing a part in punishing Johnny. There's a fine line between a harsh spanking and abuse. You should never cross that line. Never punish Max if you're mad, Calm down first. If I was spanking a bare backside like I'm going to do to Johnny tonight, it's not just to be harder, it's to see what I'm doing and not cross this limit I'm talking about. The behind can be very red, but never be so harsh as to leave a mark, a bruise, or welts."

"I understand."

"To give you an idea, my limit with my belt or any other object you decide to use, is the age of the child. The heavier and harder the object, the less force you put in. The older the child grows, the more you can give. You can apply more force and power to a sixteen or seventeen year old boy than to an eleven or twelve year old boy. I think this is a reliable and fair technique.

"Okay. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him."

"I want you to kill him! Not literally but I want you to be tough! This child desperately needs a firm hand, limits, and consequences, but respecting these rules. Remember that the impression you leave is in the way you do it, not in the force of the blows. You are much stronger than him."

"I understand, thank you, Scott. I will be tough, but I will not exceed your limits. I promise you that I will never hurt him."

"Okay. One last thing I wanted to tell you. Spanking them bare or even just without pants is humiliating for a child, best done in private, it should be between him and you most of the time."

"Are you talking about the spanking I gave him in the kitchen the other day?"

"Yes. Doing it in front of everyone added nothing more than if you took him to the barn. You can do it to mark the occasion, in front of his teacher, for example, if he answered him, in front of your mother if he is disrespectful or the tradesman in the event of theft, these are serious faults which can justify it, but it must be the exception. A simple forgetfulness of a chore does not justify it. He is a child."

"I understand, you're right, I'll be careful."

"You'll learn, you're going to make mistakes, it's normal. It's hard to raise a child, it fell on you all of a sudden. As long as you respect the rules of spanking that I learned, no mistake will be made. Max will take it for severity. You have changed a lot in a few days, I have seen you become a strict, good, and fair man. I am proud of you and I know that your father must be proud.

"Thank you sir for everything you taught me."

Scott hugged him, he was still so young!

"Always give a hug after a spanking, ALWAYS, even if you are still angry, the child has paid for his fault and needs to know that he is loved and forgiven."

"I will do it."

"Good. I'll leave the barn to you, I decided to take Johnny to the woods. I told Max to wait for you in his room."

"Yes sir."